Super Bowl Vote

By Rick Horrow and Karla Swatek

May 24, 2013

In arguably the least climactic vote in Super Bowl hosting history, San Francisco/Santa Clara was awarded the coveted Super Bowl 50 in 2016, while Houston received Super Bowl 51 in 2017. The votes were considered a foregone conclusion after Miami failed to secure a stadium renovation deal that was critical to its bid. Most incredibly, both votes were decided on the first ballot, which required 75% of owners to agree and hasn’t happened in a decade. The 2016 game will mark the first time the Super Bowl will be played in the Bay Area since 1985, while the 2017 game will be the first in Houston since 2004.

San Francisco touted its bid as the “greenest Super Bowl of all-time” because the under construction Levi’s Stadium is completely solar-powered on game days. Additionally, because of Levi’s Stadium’s proximity to Silicon Valley, the building will have several technological features not seen in other NFL venues. Finally, the bid promised to give 25% of all revenues to charities fighting poverty in the Bay Area. As for Miami, it’s unlikely the city gets back into the Super Bowl rotation until Sun Life Stadium is renovated.